The Legend of the Irish Castle (5 page)

The Davisons went out to the circle drive in
front, where a yellow convertible was parked.
It was so bright they had no trouble seeing it
in the fog.

“The car matches Mrs. Davison’s hat,”
Benny said.

Jessie laughed. “It sure does!” Grandfather
and the children waved to the newlyweds as
they drove away.

Henry glanced in Erin’s direction and
noticed that the bright smile she’d had while
saying good-bye had fallen away, and her
forehead was once again creased with worry.

“Is everything all right, Erin?” Henry
asked.

She looked out the window again and
muttered to herself. “I just hope the road
between here and Dublin is clear.”

“Me too,” Henry said. But after he thought
for a moment about what she had said, he
paused. “Why the road between here and
Dublin? Aren’t the Davisons heading west to
Galway, not toward Dublin?”

“Or maybe you are expecting more
new guests today, arriving from Dublin?”
Grandfather asked.

“Yes,” Erin said, absentmindedly. Then
she looked up from the front desk computer.
“I mean…no! There are no guests arriving
today. Please excuse me.” She rushed
around from behind the desk, accidentally
knocking over a stack of papers. The
children rushed over to help pick them up,
but she waved them away. “Don’t worry,”
she said. “I’ll get them.” Erin gathered all
the papers in her arms and rushed off down
the hallway.

“What was
that
all about?” Jessie whispered
to Violet and the boys.

They shook their heads, bewildered.
Something was definitely bothering Erin,
but they had no idea what it could be.

Grandfather decided to take a nap after
breakfast, so the children set out to explore
the castle grounds and see if they could learn
any more about the figure Jessie had seen
through the binoculars. Now that they were
sure it wasn’t Erin, they didn’t have any other
guesses for who it could be.

As the day grew warmer, the fog was
starting to lift, but it was still too hard to see
very far in the distance. The Aldens walked
across the broad meadow and entered the
woods on the path that cut between the trees.
Inside the forest, it was much darker than out
in the field. They walked for a few minutes
and came to a fork where the path split in two
directions.

“Maybe we should split up,” Jessie said.

“I don’t know,” Benny said. “What if the
banshee is down one of these paths?”

“He won’t be,” Henry said confidently,
“but I still don’t think we should split up. We
don’t know these woods at all, and we don’t
want anyone to get lost.”

“I agree,” Violet said, taking Benny’s hand.
“Let’s stick together.”

The children chose the path that curved to
the left because it was wider and looked like
it had been used more often than the other
path. They walked for a few minutes in the
quiet, surrounded by green on all sides. The
forest floor was covered with ivy and ferns,
and the boughs above them were thick with
leaves. Moss grew on the tree trunks, so even
they were green.

Just then, they heard a rustling sound off
to the side of the path. The Aldens froze, and
Benny squeezed Violet’s hand. A creature
walked out of the bushes and onto the path
in front of them. It was gray, with shaggy fur
and a long pink tongue.

“Is that a…wolf?” Benny asked in a small
voice.

“It’s a dog!” Jessie whispered. “A
big
dog.”
From farther down the path came a call.

“Arooo,” the voice said. Violet pulled out her
camera and scrambled to turn it on.

The dog responded with its own call.
“Awooooo,” the dog wailed. It stepped off the
path and bounded through the trees in the
direction of the call before Violet could snap
the photo.

“The wailing we’ve been hearing from our
room—it isn’t coming from a banshee,” she
said. “It’s coming from a ghost dog!”

A
s they walked back to the castle, Jessie tried
to convince Violet and Benny that what they
had seen couldn’t possibly be a ghost dog.

“Violet, we know ghosts aren’t real,” Jessie
said, “so that means that ghost
dogs
aren’t
real either. Anyway, my book on Irish fairy
creatures didn’t even mention something like
that. If only I could find the book, I could
show you!”

It was starting to sprinkle again, and the
children ran the rest of the way up the lane.
Inside they took off their jackets and hung
them on hooks by the front door.

“Maybe we can find another book in the
library that would give us more information
on…whatever that thing was!” Henry said.

Jessie took a deep breath as they entered
the library once more. The room smelled like
old books and furniture polish. “It’s hard to
feel worried in a room like this,” she said. “It’s
the coziest part of the castle.”

“Look,” Violet said, pointing at the old
stone fireplace, where flames crackled on the
logs. “Erin even built a fire.”

Henry stepped closer to the fireplace to
warm his hands. He thought for a moment,
then said, “Isn’t it strange? Erin said there were
no more guests arriving today, but she built
this fire, and this morning I saw her checking
her email over and over. It really does seem
like she is expecting someone. I wonder why
she would want to keep that a secret.”

Jessie nodded. She had been wondering
that too.

The children fanned out across the library
in search of clues. Benny pulled down a book
about Irish dog breeds and started leafing
through it. “Hey!” he said. “I think I found
something!”

He laid the book on the low table between
the two couches and pointed to a picture.
“Doesn’t that look like the ghost dog we saw?”

Jessie peered at the text. “That’s not a ghost
dog,” she said. “It’s just a dog, a breed called
an Irish wolfhound. See, right here it says
they have gray fur and long legs.”

Henry pointed to a paragraph farther
down the page. “And this says the breed is
known for its distinctive howl or wail.”

Violet gave a sigh of relief and opened
another book. “I like real dogs much better
than ghost dogs,” she said. “And now that I
know it was a real dog, I miss Watch!”

Watch, the stray dog the Aldens had found
when they were living in the boxcar, was back
home in Massachusetts with Mrs. McGregor.
They knew he missed them too, but he also
liked having the house to himself, especially
because Mrs. McGregor felt sorry for him
and gave him extra treats when the children
were away.

“I miss Watch too,” said Benny. “He would
loving running in these fields, and he would
love rashers!”

The children laughed as they continued
browsing the shelves. Henry pulled another
book down from a high shelf. “Here’s
something interesting,” he said. “This one
is about Irish superstitions.” He flipped to a
chapter near the back of the book and read
for a moment.

“I think I know why Fergus got so upset
at Benny the day we were unpacking,”
Henry said.

“He didn’t like that I put my shoes on the
table,” Benny said. “He probably thought
they were dirty.”

“It wasn’t the dirt that upset him,” Henry
said. “Putting shoes on a table top is considered
bad luck in Ireland.” Henry skimmed the list
on the page. “And look here—bringing lilacs
inside can also bring bad luck!”

“That explains why he didn’t want us to
bring Erin the bouquet for the front desk,”
Benny said. “I thought he was upset that we
had picked the flowers.”

“What if…” Violet said, thinking. “What
if Fergus isn’t grouchy so much as
nervous
?
If he is superstitious and worried about bad
luck, and if he heard Erin talking about the
banshee, maybe he is worried something bad
is going to happen.”

“Do you remember when I saw him slipping
something in his pocket in the hallway?”
Benny asked. “Maybe it was some kind of
charm to ward off bad luck, and he didn’t
want anyone to see him using it.”

“There’s definitely more to the story with
Fergus,” said Jessie. She traced her fingers over
the spines of the books on the shelf and noticed
a name she recognized. “McCarron!” she said,
pulling out the book. “This is the same author
as my fairy creatures book that went missing.
In fact, it’s the same book.” She showed it to
Violet. The title,
Irish Fairy Creatures
, was
printed on the cloth cover in gold letters, but
the book looked much older than Jessie’s copy,
and it didn’t have a dust jacket.

Violet opened to the title page. “There’s an
inscription,” she said.
“To my dear friend F.,
who always makes sure I get my writing done
.”

Violet handed the book to Henry, and he
and Benny looked too.

“I wonder who
F
is,” Benny asked. He
handed the book back to Jessie, and she
turned it over to look at the back, then inside
the back cover.

“Well,” Violet said, “if this castle has been
in Erin’s family for a while, her father would
own all these books. And remember—we saw
his picture on the desk. Or at least we think
that’s him in the picture. Maybe
his
name
starts with an F.”

“Frank? Or…Fred?” Jessie suggested.

“
Fergus
starts with an
F
,” Benny said.

“That’s true,” Henry said. “Do you think it
could be Fergus? That would mean he knows
this author.”

Jessie was still looking inside the back of
the book.

“What are you looking for?” Henry asked
her.

“I have an idea,” Jessie said. “But I can’t be
sure. First I need to find my own copy of this
book!” And then she rushed out of the room.

T
he other children followed Jessie out into
the hallway. She came to the cupboard at the
end of the hall, then turned back to Benny.

“Is this the cupboard where you saw
Fergus take something out?” she whispered.
She wanted to be sure that no one would
overhear them.

Benny nodded, and Jessie opened the door.
Inside was a box with a picture of a dog on it.

“Treats!” Benny said. “These are the same
kind we have at home for Watch. I never heard
of anyone using treats as a good luck charm.”

Jessie laughed, and put some of the treats
in her pocket. “I think he was using the treats
for something else,” she said. “Come on. I’ll
show you.”

Jessie and the rest of the Aldens ran to the
great hall where they had first entered the
castle. Fresh candles were burning on the
candlesticks, and there was a plate of warm
cookies on the table.

“Another sign that a new guest is coming,”
Violet said, and the other children agreed.

“Maybe Fergus will know where your book
is, Jessie,” Henry suggested.

Jessie nodded. “We just have to find him.”

Just then, Erin entered the room from the
other side, carrying a tray of freshly baked
cookies. She looked excited, as if she were
expecting to greet a new visitor. But when she
saw that it was just the Aldens, her face fell.
She set the cookies on the table by the door.

The children looked at each other.

“Hi, kids,” Erin said glumly. “Help yourself
to some cookies. I don’t think anyone else
will be here to eat them.”

Jessie wanted to ask Erin again if she was
expecting someone today, but something told
her not to bring the question up again. Erin
had acted so strangely when Grandfather
had asked the last time. Instead, she said,
“Erin, we’re looking for Fergus—have you
seen him?”

Erin nodded. “Yes, I just saw him outside.
I think he found your book, Jessie. He was
carrying it with him. Maybe he thought you
kids were playing out in the woods and was
coming to return it.”

“Let’s go before we miss him!” Jessie said,
and ran out the front door. The rest of the
Aldens followed, though Benny stopped to
grab a couple cookies.